EM6408 - Contract settlements: acceptance: SAFE - amending a charge

The guidance about contract settlements at EM6000+ only relates to direct tax. You must never include VAT or VAT penalties in a contract settlement.

If, exceptionally, you need to amend a SAFE charge you must complete a SAFE LC Class 1 Amendment Stencil and send this to either the SAFE nominee or, if you work in ISBC, the National SAFE Team. In a covering email you must also include details of

  • the charge reference
  • the amount of the decrease.

If you need to increase the charge, because a customer wants to extend an instalment arrangement, see EM6418. Under these circumstances you must also contact the DMB Self Assessment Single Point of Contact to discuss the best way of ensuing that DMB do not pursue the debts relating to the existing instalment arrangement.

Otherwise, if the amendment is to an instalment offer, you must specify which instalments need changing so that they match the revised total.

If the SAFE nominee or National SAFE Team tells you they cannot amend the charge for any reason, you must complete a SAFE 2 Charge Amendment Stencil (SAFE 2 New) and send e-form 'Corporate Treasury MCU SAFE AMC Queries' to Corporate Finance (formerly the Miscellaneous Charges Unit). You will find all the SAFE stencils in SEES Forms and Letters. (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)

If the amendment generates an overpayment that requires reallocating, you must send your request to Corporate Finance using the Intelligent Payment Process (IPP) form. 

If a repayment is going to arise from the charge amendment, you must follow the instructions in EM6417. You should check whether you require authorisation, to make any repayment before you ask the SAFE nominee or, if you work in ISBC, the National SAFE Team, to amend the charge.

Action by SAFE Nominees or National SAFE Team

On receipt of a request to amend a charge, you must use the SAFE role 'Maintain Charge' to amend the charge. This role may not allow amendments to a charge on line if

  • any part of the charge (or any part of an associated interest charge) has been remitted, or
  • the charge was raised pre-SAFE and only part of the charge transferred onto SAFE, or
  • the charge was raised and fully paid pre-SAFE.

In these cases you should tell the enquiry officers why they cannot amend a charge, and advise them to send a SAFE Charge Amendment Stencil (SAFE 2 New) directly to the Corporate Treasury MCU in Corporate Finance, using an e-form.